hail to the new chief, same as the old chief

I have a tear in my eye as I type this.  I want to capture some thoughts and feelings

while I’m still in this mood, one that I never thought I’d ever experience again.  My

friends, I’m putting aside my cynic’s credentials to tell you that today I have pride

in the U.S. electoral process.

 

Last night an array of key voting groups told Obama that he’s made enough headway

in the morass Bush left him that they trust him for another term.  Even though Obama

is beholden enough to Corporate America, his win indicates that super PAC’s and the

super rich aren’t sufficient to change regimes.

 

It’s also a repudiation of the relentless Rabid Right echo chamber.  When Karl Rove or

Rush Limbaugh are blustering, it’s hard to remember that their core audience of old

angry white guys is dwindling.  Rove raved for 30 minutes or more last night when

Ohio was called for Obama, insisting that his polling projections for Romney were

still accurate.

 

Co-blowhard Dick Morris, who predicted a landslide for the Mittster, at least had the

grace this morning to admit he was wrong.  It wasn’t really his fault, you must under-

stand.  Many more black, Hispanic and young voters showed up that he’d estimated.

Plus, he didn’t take into account that Obama would look presidential doing his job

when Hurricane Sandy hit, or that Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

would have the temerity to praise the President’s relief efforts.

 

And Limbaugh?  I’m still waiting for him to move to Costa Rica, as he threatened/

promised to do in 2010 if Obamacare passed.  Maybe some young black or Hispanic

people could help him pack.

 

The biggest payoff of the election results, though, may be that yesterday’s voting

signals the end of  white dominance in the outcome.  Whites represented 87% of

the national vote in the 1992 election, 72% this time.  Conversely, Hispanics had

only 2% of the vote then, 10% now.

 

Romney did very well with whites in general, but the gains in minority groups —

who much preferred Obama — more than offset that.  Obama, in fact, did well with

some white blue-collar workers (as opposed to blue white-collar workers).

 

So the message to the GOP is quite clear: as 7-of-9 on Star Trek :Voyager often

said, “adapt or die”.  The Republicans already have many election cycles to go

before they attract many black or brown voters.

 

The face of the U.S. is changing, rapidly and in unpredictable ways.  Doing some

background reading for this post, I discovered that The Daily Show and The

Colbert Report actually pulled bigger cable TV ratings for its coverage of the

Republican National Convention than Fox News.  But they were all bested one

night by here comes Honey Boo Boo.